


Imagine a World

by overlordofsarcasm



Series: Avengers Fix-it Fics [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: And that's a fact, Ask to take a look at his chest, Awesome Pepper Potts, BAMF Pepper Potts, Everyone's gonna fing llive in this fic, FUCK ENDGAME I'll fix it myself, Flashbacks, Good Peter, Hurt Peter, I assure you, I thought he was our friend, I write instead of sleeping, Insomnia, Morgan and Peter and siblings and you can fight me on it, Multiverse, Nightmares, POV Multiple, Panic Attacks, Parent Tony Stark, Past Child Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Sexual Abuse, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Pepper Potts, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers Feels, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, and wanda, bitch, but that's what you get for supporting HYDRA, cause he did THIS to us, details, does anyone even read the tags, even if it was only for a bit, except vision, gonna get a ouija board to summon Stan Lee back from the dead just to yell at him, he definetly knows, if you do I hope you're laughing, lol, morgan stark - Freeform, no wait that's the tea, not beta read we die like men, or well women I guess, somehow., someone help my babies, sorry vis, sorry you gotta lose everything, that's what I thought, whatever, will add more tags, yes I know this 'meme' thing why do you ask, you think Tony Stark doesn't know how much pain his bombs can cause?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2020-02-28 21:43:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18764821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/overlordofsarcasm/pseuds/overlordofsarcasm
Summary: FFH trailer 2 says that there’s a multiverse. That the snap tore a hole in our dimension. So, imagine a world where it was Clint instead of Natasha, where Rhodey’s prosthetics malfunctioned and caused him to die in the battle, where Tony had removed Peter’s Instant Kill cause he knew it made him uncomfortable, and he couldn't fight off the aliens and was killed. Basically, imagine a world where almost everyone Tony cares about is dead by the end of the battle. Now imagine Tony and Pepper had a little boy, named him Michael. Now imagine Pepper, badass supreme, doing anything it takes to try to save her family. With that in mind, read this storyOrEndgame Fix-it based loosely on the FFH trailer."I recognize the council has made a decision, but given that it's a stupid-ass decision, I've elected to ignore it." - Nick Fury, Avengers (2012)





	1. Thrusters Haunt My Dreams

Their endgame--------------

Tony and Michael hadn’t left the cabin in weeks. Both were devastated by the loss of Pepper, Rhodey, Peter, everyone who had been close to them. Michael struggled to understand, all he was told was that his mom wasn’t coming back. They didn't say dead, nor missing, like his older brother, Peter, from the stories was, just not coming back. Tony? Tony knew death. Knew it all to well. But Michael? He had been protected from the harsh realities of the world.

Every night, Tony sleeps on the couch or in Michaels room. He has entered his and Pepper’s old room exactly once, where he had broken down in tears for hours. Luckily, Michael had been in bed already, and hadn’t seen his last parent fall apart like that. He wears the clothes that had been in the laundry room, unable to face the empty bedroom to enter his closet.

When he had returned from the battlefield, alone, tear streaks still staining his face, Happy had stood up, hadn’t even said a word, and embraced the genius who broke down once again. That was the night he fell off the wagon. For the first time in years, he drank. Through the drunken haze, he was able to tell his bodyguard turned friend what happened. Soon enough, both of them were drunk and mourning.

When morning came, and Michael woke up, they couldn’t bring themselves to explain the details. So they told him that Pepper and Uncle Rhodey had to be a hero, like Peter from the stories, and like how Daddy used to be, and that they were stuck being a hero for a while and wouldn’t be able to come back. He accepted what they said, cause why would they lie to him?

At the funerals, there were closed caskets only. No one was allowed to see the destroyed remains of those they had loved, in favor of preserving the memory of what they once were. And so, Michael was still spared the true knowledge - that his Mother was dead.

When Nick Fury came to him with an offer, he almost refused. He couldn’t leave his son, this life! But then, he thought it over for a split second. What life? Pepper was gone. Rhodey was gone. Michael didn’t have friends that he would miss, and everyone, all of Tony’s family with the exception of Happy was dead. So he said he’d think about it.

Then, something else came to light, something in the world changed, and he decided to take this next great adventure.

Our Endgame--------

Peter missed him. Logically, he knew that it had been five years. He knew that. Mr. Stark had made a life, a really good life, for himself in those five years. He had a daughter and Pepper. They had their own little cabin in the woods, a little safe haven to raise their child together. And then it was ripped away, ripped away in one last sacrifice to save everyone but himself.

Morgan still didn’t know what happened to her Dad, all she was told was that he and her Mother had to fight the bad guys, and her Daddy got really hurt so they could win. They had told her that he was never coming back, but she’s only three. Does she really understand? It’s doubtful, but no one wants to be the one to destroy her. There is an unspoken mutual agreement to wait until she’s older, so she can really understand exactly what happened. For now, all she knows is that she finally gets to meet her brother Peter. And if he could come back from where he went missing, then maybe her Daddy could, too?

Peter loves his little sister. With all his heart. He had always wanted a sibling, hated being the only kid. He thrived off of touch, and when your little sister is just as cuddly as you are? Heaven. Absolute bliss. Morgan and Pepper had moved back to the city, to an apartment building just a few blocks away from Peter’s own. Pepper says she doesn’t want Morgan to grow up spoiled, and that’s why they didn’t just buy a penthouse somewhere, but Peter and May know the real reason is that they want Morgan to have a family, a support group that is easily accessible now that Tony is gone. But they all continue to pretend that everything is fine, and that life is normal.

Peter and Morgan have sleepovers. Many people, if they knew, would think that it is weird, even inappropriate, but they are the closest thing to siblings that the other has, and sleepovers with each other are practically a right of passage. The first time was an accident, only a few weeks after the battle. He had been at their apartment, having a Disney movie night, and had fallen asleep laying on the couch, with Morgan curled up on his chest. He woke the next morning to a sad smile from Pepper while she took pictures, and several texts from May gushing over the images that she had been sent.

But it was only 6:30 in the morning, and when Pepper had asked if he could babysit her for a few hours so she could get some work done for SI, he had readily agreed. The girl was still asleep on him, so he had yawned, closed his eyes, and gone back to sleep for another hour before he was woken with giggles and pokes to his face. Pepper sitting at the dining table, laptop open in front of her, tablet in one hand, and on the phone, she had put everything on pause for a moment to show him where the cereal was. They had breakfast, whispering next to Pepper so as not to disturb her work, before disappearing back into Morgan’s room.

They had played together for hours, and when Pepper finished with her work and went to get them for lunch, she had found them asleep once again, this time on Morgan’s bed. She had smiled, but woke them up, and when Peter confessed that this was the best and most he’d slept since everything had happened, that somehow, Morgan made the nightmares less scary, Pepper and May made sure that they got to play and cuddle as much as they wanted, as long as Peter stayed caught up at school. (Although really, he could be failing every class and they wouldn’t take this from him)

When Peter took a trip with his friends over the summer, they all worried that he wouldn’t be able to sleep, wouldn’t be able to function with the nightmares that were oh so horribly regular, but they never would have been able to anticipate what would actually happen.

The trip there was fine, but Nick Fury - THE NICK FURY - was in his hotel room when he got there. His trip was hijacked, and he was roped into helping someone from a different dimension. A different multiverse. Apparently, something about the stones had caused it to splinter and break off, from back when Thanos had snapped his fingers that first time. Peter had stopped listening, in favor of being in absolute awe of where he was and who was standing around him, but apparently, he was now supposed to team up with this magic Thor/Iron Man guy to help stop these golems - these monsters.

He didn’t tell his family, partly so they wouldn’t worry, partly cause he felt like he had a duty to live up to Mr. Stark’s legacy and protect people, and partly cause Nick Fury had told him to keep this a secret, and you just don’t go against Nick Fury’s orders like that. So he fought the Golems. He fought and was injured, healed, and fought again. He tried to take them out, and even with the magic man's help, he failed.

He never would have guessed that Magic Man was actually the one controlling the golems, and was using them to test his reaction times and preferred moves, so he could eventually take Spiderman out. And apparently, neither did Nick Fury. Peter nearly died that first time he was attacked by his ‘ally’, but he got out, he was fine, and his broken ankle and waterlogged lungs felt better the next day.

The next time he was asked to step up, he almost considered saying no, but realized that Mr. Stark would be disappointed with him for nearly giving up so easily. So he didn't. He fought back against Magic Man, and when he was about to be defeated, help came from the most unexpected of sources. On his left, Captain America. Young again, fighting with the shield that he had given to Sam. On Peter’s right, Black Widow, somehow alive. And above him, the sound of thrusters.


	2. Gosh, I Miss Carol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Does anyone wanna take a guess as to why exactly this conflict is so ridiculous? No? Okay. Fine.” He rubs his forehead with the thumb and index finger on his right hand, looking down. He mutters under his breath, but my sensitive ears can still hear him, clear as day. “Gosh, I want Carol back. So straight forward. So easy to deal with. So simple, she knew how to get shit done.”

They fought. They nearly lost, but they fought. The Captain flinging his shield, somehow bending it to his will, completely ignoring the laws of physics. The Black Widow, a terrifying force, shooting, and using her Widow Bites, among other weapons from her vast arsenal, not to mention the fact that she can be considered a deadly weapon all on her own. And Iron Man, somehow still alive, back with them. Shooting the Golems with his repulsors, using his bulletproof armor to divebomb them, much like Captain Marvel had done in the battle only a short while before.

Peter tried not to think about it, knowing if he got to distracted by the ghosts that were assisting him, he may end up dead as well, and he couldn’t do that to May or Pepper, and especially not Morgan. Not so soon after they’d lost Tony. They didn't deserve that. So he didn’t think of it. He shoved it into the furthest corner of his mind, trying to ignore the screaming of the civilians as well, knowing that some of them were his classmates. He knew that if he wasn’t at the top of his game and one of them got hurt because of it, he would never be able to forgive himself.

It wasn’t until after they had finally managed to subdue Magic Man, Peter trapping him in a cocoon of all things, that he turned on those who had helped him. They hadn’t been expecting it, so he had them tied down quickly as well, with the iconic shield attached to a wall forty feet away. They may have helped, but what right did these imposters have to take the face of those who had given everything already? The resemblance was uncanny, but there was no way that these people were anything but imposters, right? 

By the time they had even realized they were being tied up, Peter already had Nick Fury on the other end of his comms, telling him to stand down, that these were allies, and that he would be along shortly. Peter was reluctant, but he soon released their feet from the binding to allow them to walk on their own. As a precaution, he cocooned their arms to their sides. Even if Nick Fury says that they are safe, he’s not gonna take the chance of him being wrong again, as he was with Magic Man. 

When ‘Captain America’ tried to talk, to explain himself, Peter shot a web across his face, sealing his mouth shut. ‘Black Widow’ remained quiet, her face thoughtful, and the Mr. Stark look-alike appeared as if he was struggling internally. As if he wanted to say something, but couldn’t quite bring himself to do so. Maybe he was afraid of the webs, maybe he just didn’t want to provoke Spider Man. Whatever it was, Peter was grateful. He didn’t want to feel like he needed to web his mentor up any more than he already had.

It only took a few more minutes of waiting before Nick Fury got to their location. He was already talking when he stepped out of the black SUV that he had arrived in. “Mr. Parker. I told you to stand down, why are these INTERNATIONAL HEROS still tied up? They fought alongside you, and this is how you treat them?”

Peter shrugs. “In my defense, these people are dead or old. I watched Mr. Stark die. I heard his heart stop beating, and when I tried to revive him, I heard it refuse to pump blood for over an hour before Mr. Rogers forced me to stop and realize that there was no way I could succeed. I’ve seen Captain America since he returned the stones, and he looks nothing like this, and the Black Widow died and was left on an entirely different planet. Forgive me if I’m a little cautious, especially since the last ‘hero’ you sent to help me turned out to be the very guy I was fighting!”

(A/N: I accidentally turn to first person (Peter POV) here. I write best, in my opinion, when it’s first person, so instead of changing the whole chapter, I’m just gonna leave it like this now. Sorry!)

The intimidating man shook his head at my outburst. “Untie them, get in the car, and we’ll fill you in on everything. Okay? Hurry up. I don’t got all day to wait on you. Places to be, people to avoid and all that.”

I move slowly at first, but quickly finish taking my webs off of the three Avengers. We get into the vehicle and speed off. The inside is set up differently than a normal model. The two benches in the back seat are facing each other, rather than both facing forwards. I can see Ned and Flash in the distance, looking through the wreckage, and I can hear both calling for Spider Man, each for different reasons. I feel guilty for a moment, but there is nothing I can do. My phone is waterlogged and damaged by one of the Golems. You’d think after giving the world an additional five years to advance technologically, waterproof phones would be the standard by now. But no. Of course not. 

I have an idea. I pull my mask back on, “Karen?”

“Yes, Peter?

“Is there any way you can contact Ne- my Guy in the Chair, and tell him that I’m okay? I don’t want him to worry any more than he already is.” For some reason, I don’t want to give his name to the strangers that I am with. “Can you send him a text or an email or something?”

“Of course, Peter. I can access your facebook. Sending facebook message now. Is there anything else you need? Your heart rate is surprisingly high, would you like me to alert Aunt May or Pepper Stark?”

“No! That’ll be it. Thanks, Karen!” I take my mask off. Iron Man looks as if he had just seen a ghost, while the Captain and Black Widow were both looking at me as if I was crazy. “What?” My curiosity overwhelms me, and instead of ignoring them as I had intended to do, I actually invite them to talk to me. Oh well.

Mr. Stark speaks up first. “Underoos?” His voice cracks on the single word. There are tears in his eyes, but he is refusing to let them drop. “Peter? Is that you? How did- What? You died. I found your body torn apart, one of your arms was completely eaten off. You were ripped apart by the aliens, and I had to find and bury you. I had to tell your aunt what happened, and she- she- just. Gosh, kid. Holy fuck. I don’t know how you're alive, but I am so glad that you are. Can I introduce you to my kid? Michael has heard all sorts of stories about you, and I bet he’d love to finally meet his brother.”

I’m confused. None of this is making sense, I clearly did not die. I don’t know who Michael is, and how the heck is Mr. Stark here? “Hold up.” I put my hand up. “No. No, I did not die. You heard what I told Mr. Fury. I watched YOU die. Not the other way around. You,” I point to Black Widow. “You jumped off a cliff to save Hawkeye. You’re dead. Your body isn’t even on this planet. It’s not even in our solar system. So no. You guys don’t get to show up here and ask how I am alive. Nope. And he, “ I jerk my thumb in Captain America’s direction. “He left us to clean up the pieces.” I turn toward him, jabbing my index finger into his chest. “You left us to clean up the pieces. You left us when we needed you! It- we, How could you leave us, leave Bucky like that?”

He starts. “Bucky’s still alive?”

I look at him calculatingly, before nodding slowly. “Yes. And you left him. Alone. Don’t act so surprised. Don’t act so high and mighty right after you do something like that. You don’t get to do that.” We pull into a parking garage, and automatically, I shrink back into my seat. My voice is quieter as I repeat what I just said. “You don’t get to that.”

Mr. Fury pulls into a parking spot near the elevator, and gets out of the car. The rest of us follow him, and I bring up the lead. I’m not letting these people walk behind me, no matter how much they helped in the fight, or how similar they are to our world’s heroes. 

We enter the elevator, Nick Fury eyeing me amusedly, before he blocks the buttons with his coat and pushes them in a strange pattern. His attempt at secrecy is in vain, though, because a feminine voice echoes through the elevator. “Six, two, four, four, two. Access granted. Going down.” He stands tall, and I can practically smell the sheepishness rolling off of him in waves, but neither of us says anything.

We begin to descend. He leads us through a maze of corridors and into a conference room. He gestures to us to sit down, but he remains standing. “Alright. There’s been some conflict. Based on the fact that half of you came from a different Earth, and you,” He points at me. “Just fought Mysterio, a villain, from another Earth, which I told you about, I feel like it should be obvious. Does anyone wanna take a guess as to why exactly this conflict is so ridiculous? No? Okay. Fine.” He rubs his forehead with the thumb and index finger on his right hand, looking down. He mutters under his breath, but my sensitive ears can still hear him, clear as day. “Gosh, I want Carol back. So straight forward. So easy to deal with. So simple, she knew how to get shit done.” He looks back at up at us without taking a moment to let us answer his question. “There’s a multiverse, as Mr. Parker so eloquently put it. You guys are from different Earths.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone catch the Easter Egg? I think I'm pretty clever lol


	3. Daddy?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Who died? Please, kid.” His voice breaks and fades out.
> 
> I don’t answer him. Instead, I pull him against me, similar to when I returned to Earth. Hugging him, we both break into full on tears. Neither of us say anything, I am unaware of timing passing.
> 
> “Daddy?” I jerk back. There is a little boy, standing in the doorway.

I sit for a moment, numb. Different Earths? What? But the more I think about it, how Captain America seemed to be genuinely confused about what I was talking about with Bucky, how he was actually young again, how Mr. Stark was acting like I had died all over again, how he and Black Widow were here, and ALIVE, the more I think that maybe it does make sense. Maybe just a little bit.

I turn to my right. I can see Mr. Stark processing the fact that he is now apparently on a different world, where I’m alive, and he was not. Captain America seems to be trying to wrap his head around the fact that Bucky was still alive, and that the version of himself here had left him to return to Peggy Carter. Black Widow seemed to be slightly choked up. Maybe processing the fact that it was she who had died on this world, and not whoever she had lost? No one really gave me many details about how they got stones, so I don’t know who else was with her when she went over the cliff.

I turn back towards Fury. “Mr. Fury, sir. Why? And what? Why and how are they here? Doesn’t their own world need them?”

Instead of Fury, Mr. Stark answers. “No, um. Something different happened on our world. A few things, actually. The main one though - I got the stones from Thanos, and snapped my fingers. Yeah?” I nod, following along. “But uh, Pepper, she took them from me as I was about to die. We think she asked them to save me. We don’t, I don’t know if it was the way she worded it, or if when I stopped trying to halt global warming, if something was released from the ice that reacted poorly with all the radiation from three snaps in close proximity to each other, or if the stones caused genes to mutate, or what. But people… people started changing. Think zombie and vampire, with a little werewolf thrown in. They feed on blood, but act like a zombie. Sunlight doesn’t burn them. You can’t kill them, at least not that we’ve found, and the full moon means they can hunt at night. Normally, for whatever reason, they are dormant at night, but when the moon is more than three quarters full, they’re active at night. Most of the world has been overrun. It started about a week after we brought everyone back. The snap, it killed Pepper almost instantly, so she could save me, and it’s slowly killing everyone else, too. We,” He gestures around him. “Are the only Avengers left. There’s nothing we can do, I’ve tried. It seems that everyone who was destroyed in the original snap, from Thanos was infected first, no matter where they were, and it’s spread quickly. There is a chance that we four are the only ones left.”

I look around, at the other two. “Four?” I don’t add anything else, but they know what I mean.

“Yeah, I brought my kid with me. We were safe, our cabin was on protected land, no one could get in or out without me knowing. I had the Iron Legion on patrol 24/7, and the four of us were holed up there, until Nicky here showed up. We’d basically given up hope, we had no way of contacting anyone from outer space, and I didn’t have the material needed to build a working space worthy ship. We deemed it to dangerous to leave, we were trying to wait it out until Carol would come check on us. We were hoping that we could find an abandoned planet to make our own, if it had taken over the rest of the universe too.”

“You brought Morgan? Wait no, not important right now. Pepper didn’t do that here, and nothing like that’s happened, as far as I know, at least. She and Morgan live in Queens now, down the street from me and Aunt May. Wait. Mr. Fury, sir? Nothing’s happened, right? These three, and Morgan and the magic guy, they’re the only ones that you brought over, right? We don’t have to worry about anyone else, anyone that might be infected?”

He shakes his head. “No. these four were the only ones that I brought over. We think that Mysterio managed to open a portal on his own, somehow. I have people tracking energy signatures to try to either shut it down or contain it, somehow. Apart, from that though, you’re right about almost everything, kid.”

“Almost?”

“I don’t know who Morgan is, but I brought Michael with me. Where is he, by the way? I want to see my kid, he’s probably scared.”

What.

Michael? What? Where’s Morgan? “No. Morgan. Where’s Morgan? You said you saved your kid. You can’t have left Morgan to die of some mutant zombie disease. Especially without her parents! It’s already bad enough she lost one parent, I know my Morgan misses you tons! And you, you just- How could you just leave her like that!” I’m breathing quickly, my chest heaving. I realize that I’m beginning to panic. “You know what it's like to lose your parents!” Mr. Stark flinches. “But you were almost an adult! You were in college! She’s gonna think that this is her fault, that you chose to leave her, and you just. You abandoned her?” There’s tears now, dripping down my face. I still can’t get enough air. The idea of my suedo sister, lost and broken without her parents, with no idea where they went or what happened to them, on an abandoned planet overrun with what they described? It’s unthinkable.

“Kid.”

There’s a hand on my shoulder.

“Kid. I don’t know who Morgan is, but I do know that I didn’t leave my kid behind. In my world, me and Pepper,” His voice cracks. “We had a little boy. We named him Michael Peter Stark. If we had had a little girl, it would have been Morgan Benji. Both after you, kid. You’re saying that on this Earth, we had a little girl? Morgan? WAIT. Pepper. She’s alive?” Both hands are on my shoulders now. I am turned towards him, his face only inches from mine. “I need you to understand that I would never abandon any of my kids that way. Not her, not Michael, and not you, kid. I would never do that. But I need to call her. Pepper. Video call her. Who else? Who else is alive? Who died? Please, kid.” His voice breaks and fades out.

I don’t answer him. Instead, I pull him against me, similar to when I returned to Earth. Hugging him, we both break into full on tears. Neither of us say anything, I am unaware of timing passing.

“Daddy?” I jerk back. There is a little boy, standing in the doorway, holding the hand of a female agent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's not as long as usual, but I'm tired. I hope you enjoy! (And please leave a comment or kudos if you did!)


	4. Are You My Mother?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No.
> 
> This can’t be happening. This shouldn’t be happening, shouldn’t be possible.
> 
> But when I was a kid, I would’ve said there was no such thing as aliens. Six years ago, I would have said there was no way to kill half of all life instantaneously. A year ago, everyone thought that it was impossible to bring the dead back to life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it took so long for me to update! I don't know why, but it took me three days to write this, even though I can usually have a chapter written in about three hours! Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

No.

No, I can’t. This isn’t my Mr. Stark. This isn’t the mentor that I’ve come to love, and he certainly isn’t the father that I cost Morgan.

This can’t be happening. This shouldn’t be happening, shouldn’t be possible.

But when I was a kid, I would’ve said there was no such thing as aliens. Six years ago, I would have said there was no way to kill half of all life instantaneously. A year ago, everyone thought that it was impossible to bring the dead back to life. So maybe this was possible. maybe, just maybe this was actually happening, and I won’t be waking up with Morgan curled up with me any second now.

But still. An entirely different timeline? A new Earth, a multiverse? At first, the idea had been astounding. But now? It’s terrifying. An infinite number of Earths, and apparently there’s the potential that the villains from other Earths can come here as well? Do we not have enough of our own problems?

I look down at the kid again. He’s small, maybe even smaller than Morgan is now. He has one of his hands in his mouth, sucking on his fingers. Letting go of the agent's hand, he shuffles towards Mr. Stark. I watch him, but make no move to say anything. Not yet, at least.

The kid - Michael, apparently - is picked up. Mr. Stark holds him protectively against his hip. “Please, kid. Who else did you lose? We- we lost everything. Please tell me that you didn’t too.”

I shake my head slowly. “Uh, Vision stayed dead. You, all three of you actually, sorta. Captain Rogers, you’re just really really old now. Black Widow ma’am, you uh, you gave your life for the soul stone. Mr. Stark, you all apparently know what happened there. I heard your heart give out, sir. I heard you die. I-” I cut off. They know. They’ve been through enough without me burdening them with my problems. “As far as I know, everyone else was okay. Now that Princess Shuri of Wakanda is back, they’re working on trying to get Colonel Rhodes' legs functional again, so he doesn’t have to use the braces. Um. Mor-morgan is fine. She’s this little guys counterpart. She doesn’t really understand the whole ‘death’ thing, especially with me coming back. But she will. Eventually. This world, it’s good. We made it. And you helped out with that Magic guy, so thanks.”

My Spidey Sense goes off. Before I can truly process what it’s reacting to, the Black Widow is on her feet and leaning over me, a knife in her hand and panic in her eyes. “Clint. What about Clint?” She must see my look of confusion. “Hawkeye. Where is he? Is he alive? And his family? Do you know if they’re okay? Tell me!” She tries to grab my arm to shake me, but I leap backward and out of her way. When she follows me over the chair, I jump to the ceiling, hanging there for a moment before answering.

“He’s fine, he’s fine! Last I heard they were all fine! We’ve been in constant communication, all the Avengers have. We need to stick together, and all that jazz. But he’s fine! The new Captain America has noticed some activity heading that way, but he thinks it’s nothing, just some low-level gang activity or something like that. But he’s fine!”

There is some confusion on their faces when I mention the new Captain America, but no one comments on it. “Thors off world, he left with the Guardians, they’re trying to figure out the whole Gamora situation, and-”

I am cut off by a hand on my shoulder. “This is all well and good, but we need to get all of you on a plane back to the states. There’ll be enough time for chitchat on board. Got it?” I look over my shoulder, Mr. Fury is glaring at us. At this point, I think that's just his normal resting face.

I nod, as does the Captain. Ms. Romanoff follows silently, and Mr. Stark makes a big show about being obedient, but follows as well.

The plane right is quiet, for the most part. I try not to think about how I’m going to explain my absence to my friends, as well as the ‘coincidence’ that I disappeared whenever Spider-Man appeared on the scene. I put it to the back of my mind. It’s a problem for another time. The trip passes in a blur, and in what seems like barely an hour, we are arriving at our destination.

“We will be landing at Shield Headquarters. Which technically doesn’t exist, but that’s just the way I like it. You all will be debriefed, and we will figure out living arrangements for the four of you, as well.”

We walk silently, but quickly. Not in an obvious rush, but with a sense of purpose about us. No one stops or tries to interrupt us. We are about to walk into the conference room, but Nick Fury is holding the door open for everyone to enter, but grabs my arm as I pass him.

“Parker, wait. I need you to do something else for us, first.” 

I nod. I’d like almost nothing more than to get this mess figured out. “What is it?”

“We need you to call Pepper and get her here. I don’t care what you have to say to get here on such short notice, but we need her here. Like it or not, she’s now the go to for all things hero related. Anyone who can keep Tony Stark in line for that long is very capable, in my book.”

I nod again, pulling out my phone. My hands are shaking. I nearly click the wrong name, but manage to select Pepper’s after a moment. The phone only rings for a moment before she picks up.

“Peter? What’s wrong? Is everything alright? Why are you- I knew we shouldn’t have let you go on this trip! Do I need to send someone to get you? I can have one of To- one of the old suits to pick you up, if it’s an emergency.”

She talks rapidly, barely giving me any time to get a comment in. “No, I’m. I’m fine. I’m uh, not exactly in Venice anymore. We actually just got back to New York. Speaking of, I think I need your help.”

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah! Yes, I’m fine. I just, I just need your help, I need you to come help me real quick. It’s nothing bad, I promise! I don’t think so, at least.”

“Alright Honey, I can send Happy to come g-”

No! It has to be you. It can’t be Happy, it has to be you.”

“Alright, Peter. I’m in a board meeting right now, can it wait a few minutes, so I can get these idiots out of here, and make them think that it's their idea? I can be there in ten minutes or so. I’ll even take the armor, So it won’t take as long. Okay? May can keep Morgan for a few more hours if needed, she doesn't have a shift tonight, right?”

I nod in agreement, then realize that she can’t see me. “Oh, okay! Yeah, yes. I mean, no, she doesn't. Not tonight. Ten minutes, good, thanks. Can you just have Friday track my phone? Or do you want my actual address?”

“Sure, Hon. I’ll just have Friday bring me to you, okay? I’ll be there soon.” She hangs up the phone. I look to Mr. Fury, silently asking for instructions, but he is already walking into the conference room and sitting at the head of the table. He gestures to me to sit, so I follow his example.

The next fifteen minutes are completely silent, apart from the quiet noises Michael is making as he entertains himself.

I lose track of time quickly, and the next thing I know, Pepper is standing at the door, hand over her mouth, tears in her eyes, and a little boy hugging her knees, begging to be picked up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review, comments give me life! 
> 
> Have a nice day :)


	5. Theoretically a Universe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Each person's individual choices branch off into a separate reality. Now, that might not seem like much, but there is a new reality for each choice you could have chosen. In the last five minutes, there were dozens of different ways you could have handled walking in here, and each one could branch off into a new part of the multiverse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's a TON of dialogue, sorry about that. This is mostly a filler chapter, trying to get the details out of the way, explain the multiverse (how I perceive it, at least), how Fury found the four of them, and some of the differences between worlds.

“Tony?” Her voice cracks. Instinctively, she reaches down and picks up the toddler that has wrapped himself around her knees. “Tony, how? Peter? Is, do you know?” In one fluid move, Mr. Stark is standing up, nearly knocking his chair over in his haste to get to his wife’s counterpart. He stops just short of her, then slowly reaches up and cups her face in one of his hands, a loving look in his eyes.

And yeah, I do know, I know exactly what she’s asking. “I think it’s really him. The same up until Thanos snapped, and after that, only minor differences until the battle. Apparently, there’s a multiverse, and well, almost everyone from their world died as a result of three snaps so close together. They came here to escape, and they saved my butt in Venice.”

She latches on to what I say almost immediately, glancing sharply back at me. “Three? Wait, so not back from the dead? Explain.” She steps back from Tony for a moment. A hurt look flashes in his eyes, but he doesn’t try to stop her. Relief rushes through my body, glad she isn’t asking what I mean by saving me in Venice. Maybe she saw the news, and already knew the vague details?

Before I can start trying to stutter out an answer to her question, however, Mr. Fury speaks up.

“Each choice creates a separate reality, yes? For example, something as simple as choosing a different move on a computer game can dictate whether you win or not, and the outcome of that match can change whether you are still playing or not, an hour later. Now, that might not seem like much, but in that hour, if you hadn’t been sitting at your desk with your computer, or reading emails, or playing that game, you might be outside, you might get hit by a car, you could be mugged, you could be struck by lightning. Each person's individual choices branch off into a separate reality, and there is a new reality for each choice you could have chosen. In the last five minutes, there were dozens of different ways you could have handled walking in here. You could have left, you could have slapped someone, then left, you could have accused us of using Tony’s cloaking device to create masks so people could take these three identities. Another example is how truly random a fetus’ genetic makeup is. Theoretically, there could be a universe where everyone but Parker is the same gender, but he’s a girl. Now imagine, if your grandmother had been born a boy, how different life could be? Imagine if Howard Stark had been female. No one would have really taken her seriously, back in the twenties, thirties, forties. We might not even have Captain America, which means we might not have been able to defeat Hydra in World War 2, or maybe we would have lost the Battle of New York back in 2012, without the Steve here to help you. Do you see what I’m saying?” There are hesitant nods all around.

“Now, the reality that these four are from simply branched off around the time that Thanos snapped. We can’t really know for sure, but so far, the only major difference before the snap was reversed, was that your daughter was born as a boy. Michael,” He points at the kid Pepper is still holding. He has one of his thumbs in his mouth, and the other is playing with her hair, rubbing it back and forth between his fingers. “Instead of Morgan.”

Pepper looks at the little boy in her arms, shock crossing her face as she realizes why he was so comfortable in her arms. “Michael, huh?” She smiles up at Tony. “After my grandfather, right?”

Mr. Stark nods. “Michael Peter, after this one.” He points vaguely in my direction. “And our, our daughter? Morgan? Her middle name, it’s Benji, right?”

Pepper nods, tears in her eyes.

Mr. Rogers and Miss Romanov have sat quietly through the whole exchange. I’ve watched them out of the corner of my eye. I don’t trust them, even if they are who they say they are. I don’t know what’s happened in my own world between the three, let alone in their world. But last I knew, here, they definitely didn’t get along as well as they used to. I feel the need to both reserve my right to make my own judgment on them, as well to watch Mr. Starks back. 

I jerk my attention back to the conversation around me. Pepper has stepped forward again, and is now leaning into Mr. Stark’s side, one of his arms around her waist. “I know that the last five years have probably been different for you. Very different. For both of us. Different experiences, and everything. But the kids, they don’t know that. And you’re saying we had a little girl here?” Pepper nods. “Wow.” He looks awestruck. 

She laughs slightly. “That’s almost the exact same thing you said when you found out I was pregnant with her. Lot more swearing then, though.”

Mr. Fury clears his throat. “I’m glad that we’ve all been caught up, brought up to speed. But we need to move on. Plenty of time for chit chat later. Sit down.” They do so, Michael still on his not-moms lap. “Stark. You said you brought data over? Upload it to our servers.”

Mr. Stark nods. “FRIDAY? Can you send over everything from my suit? All records gathered from home? THen compare it to the records they have here. We need to see what’s different. Focus on who survived the first snap, then go from there.”

“Yes, boss. Anything else?”

“Just throw it up on the screen when you’re done.”

“Data compiled, sir. No differences between those lost in the snap. The first difference found is Michael vs Morgan Stark. After that, slight differences in training regimen and diet of Avengers found. Additionally, your work in asthma research was not done on this Earth, as Morgan has no documented record of having asthma. Instead, here, you focused your efforts on global warming, trying to slow the melting of the ice caps. No connections found between that and the disastrous disease on our Earth.”

She pauses for a moment. “It seems that the Tony Stark from this Earth never altered Karen’s coding to remove instant-kill, seeing it as a useless task after Spider-Man no longer existed. On this planet, the Instant-Kill in Peter’s suit is what saved him from the aliens, assisted by Captain America using Mjolnir to allow Peter to hitch a ride, so to say.”

“It seems that the alteration of training regimens and diet with the Avengers is what allowed Clint Barton to narrowly beat out Natasha Romanov, allowing him to sacrifice himself instead. This Earth’s Black Widow spent approximately two minutes longer per day training her precision and reaction time, allowing her to secure Hawkeye to the cliff face instead.”

“It seems that the lack of Spider-Man on the battlefield somehow led to the destruction of several other people, but my data is inconclusive, as sensors and such were destroyed in the fighting. And lastly, the sacrifice of Pepper Stark obviously did not happen in this world. I do not have data to support reasoning as to why or why not, but I can only guess that it has something to do with Michael and Morgan.”

“There were no other major differences that I found, although I will continue to run scans to search.”

All of us at the table look shocked. The Black Widow has a tear on her face, and Captain America looks devastated as well. Mr. Fury’s face is hard, but there is no other indicator of emotion.

“Look. That was more information than I was hoping to get. In all honesty, I was thinking there would be at least a few hours before it was all compiled. For now, let me gather some more intel. Try to get the remaining Avengers back together. See if Old Glory (A/N: lol) is still around. Give me a few days. Truthfully, we are not nearly as prepared as I would like to be to even attempt to handle this. It ain’t a perfect world anymore. We’ll figure out accommodations in a moment. For now, though. Pepper, are you going to be taking Parker home, or is he staying here since he was a big part of all the shit that went down in Venice?”

I look at Pepper for a moment, eyeing the boy, now asleep, on her lap, at the same time, letting her know that it was entirely up to her. “Actually, Nick. Can you give us a moment, please?” When he nods, she stands up carefully, gesturing for me and Mr. Stark to follow her. We do so silently, the only noise is her heels clicking softly against the tile.

When we are outside, and out of earshot of Mr. Rogers, she turns to us. “I know, I know that you aren’t my Tony, and I’m not your Pepper. But the kids, the kids don’t know that. He thinks I’m his mother, Tony. And Morgan, she’ll think you’re her father. I don’t know what to do. Logically, we both know that you and I are different people than who we’ve known over the last several years. But they’re just kids. We told Morgan that you were missing, Tony. Missing. Like we used to tell her Peter was. And now he’s back, and she thinks you’re coming back too. I can’t hurt her like that. You four, are you planning on staying on our Earth?”

Mr. Stark nods. “The Iron Legion was about to be overrun by some sort of mutant vampire zombies. We’re not sure what caused it, but suspect that it was having three snaps of the gauntlet so close to each other. We’d just about given up hope when Fury gets Dr. Strange to open up a portal into our living room. Took us by surprise, we aren’t even sure how he found us, of if Strange saw it as one of the possible futures and knew what was happening. Whatever the case, yes. We’re planning to stay here. Fury told us our counterparts were out of the picture, but he didn’t say how. We just assumed the battle, but it seems we were wrong. Why?”

Instead of answering, she turns to me. “Are you planning to go home tonight? Or did you want to stay here?”

I don’t even need to think before I answer. “I was planning on going home. But I can stay if you need me to. It’s up to you, Mo- ma’am.”

She smiles softly at me, noticing my slip up. “Do you want to keep Morgan with you tonight? And I… I think I’ll stay here. Is that weird?” She directs the question at both of us.

“Of course not!”

“Pep, they’re probably just gonna have us sleep on couches, you should go home, sleep in an actual bed. I know how tired you get after your board meetings.”

Maybe I didn’t quite think my answer all the way through.

“Then come back with me. Morgan can stay with Peter and May, you and can Michael can stay with me. If you guys are going to be staying, I’m going to be part of Michael's life, and you are going to be part of Morgan’s. I’ve seen how much it's torn her apart to lose you. I can’t let that continue if you’re going to be here. I know it’s weird, but… I just can’t do that to her. And you and I need to talk, preferably without prying ears.” She looks pointedly at me.

Whoops.

“If it’s too weird, you can sleep on the couch, okay? But we need to do this, sort things out before they get even more complicated. Okay?” 

Mr. Stark nods slowly. “Okay. Yes. Ok, we can do this. We gonna tell Fury, or we just gonna leave?”

Pepper rolls her eyes. “Come on. I’ll explain to Fury.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a review, they literally make my day! I love getting to read them while I'm at work, it makes me think of new ideas for the next chapter and also lets me not be bored for a bit lol
> 
> Anyways. Catch ya on the flip side!


	6. Of Fluff and Legos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, this is just a bit of shameless Morgan and Peter Fluff :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy! I really wanted to touch on the sibling relationship between these two, and I hope I got it right!

Mrs. Stark ends up calling Happy to give them a ride home. They offer to drop me off as well, but I shake my head, saying that I’ll swing home. I need a moment or two to myself before I have to answer all of Aunt May’s questions.

Wait.

Aunt May. Shoot.

I am nearly to our apartment building when I realize that I haven’t called her yet. Not since the last battle with Mysterio, where the three visitors showed up to assist me. I wonder if she’s seen the news yet.

Arriving at our building, I pause on the roof. “Karen, can you call Aunt May for me real quick? Thanks.”

“Of course Peter. How was your trip?” She tries to make small talk before the call is answered, but before I can respond, May picks up.

“Peter? What’s wrong? Are you- Is everything alright? I saw the news, why didn’t you call me right away? Do you need to come home? I can get Pepper to send one Tony’s suits to pick you up, it’s okay. I knew we shouldn’t have let you go on this trip!” Her statements are strangely similar to what Pepper said when I called her.

“No!” I’m quick to assure her. “I, um. I’m kinda outside? And I didn’t want to just come in and freak you out, so, I thought I’d call? And let you know before I just climb through a window while I’m supposed to be in Europe?” I laugh awkwardly, crawling down the side of the building before entering my room via the window. “So, yeah. Um. I’m kinda in my room now, so Imma just hang up now, yep.” I click the red button on the phone screen, then walk into the living room.

“Petey! Momma said you were gonna be gone for a whole week! That’s seven days, why are you here already? Oh! Do you wanna help me build my Legos? I’m building a castle!” She has a confused little pout on her face. It’s cute.

“Hi Morgie! I just missed you so much! I wanted to come say hi to you, and Momma, and Aunt May! Is that okay with you?” I tweak her nose, giggling when she goes cross-eyes, trying to watch my hand. It’s hard not to be happy to see her when she’s always so excited to see me.

I can see May watching me from the kitchen, a questioning look on her face. “Hey, I’m gonna go say hi to Aunt May, okay? Keep building the castle, I’ll be back in a few minutes, okay?”

She nods, then concentrates on the pieces in front of her, tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth.

“Hey, May.” I smile at her sheepishly.

“You, sir, have got some major explaining to do.”

I nod. “Okay, so you know how there’s this theory, the multiverse? How every choice you make can create an entirely new universe?” She nods. Me and Ned have discussed it with her before. “Turns out it’s real, and something happened with the Infinity Stones, allowing portals to open up between them. You saw the news, right?” She nods again, face hard to read. “Okay, so the guy I was fighting, turns out he’s some crazy villain from another Earth. Called himself Mysterio, isn’t that lame? Anyways, um. Well, four other people kinda sorta-but-not-really came with him, and three of them sorta helped me finally defeat him?”

“Okay, and? Does this have anything to do with why Pepper called me asking me to keep Morgan for a few more hours, or why she called back twenty minutes ago and asked if she could spend the night?”

I flinch. “Sorta?” I rush to get it all out before Aunt May can say anything. “The four other people who came over, are kinda the counterparts of the Black Widow, Captain America, and uh…” I check to make sure Morgan isn’t listening. She is. “My mentor? And maybe his son, as well?”

Aunt May rubs her temples. “What? Peter, honey. You know… You know that can’t happen, right? That he’s gone? I wish he wasn't, but he is, and we can’t change that. I’m sorry, Baby. I know you miss him, but don’t you think he’d want you to move on? It’s been almost six months. It’s time, Peter.”

I shake my head frantically, “No! May, I swear. If you don’t believe me, you can see tomorrow, okay? And it’s okay that Morgan stays tonight, right? We can have a sleepover!”

There is pity in her eyes. “Sure, Pete. Of course. You wanna go play with her while I make some dinner for us?”

I nod, then head back to the living room. “I heard you wanted me to help you build your Lego castle, huh? What kind of castle are we building?” She leaps up and hugs me, half climbing on my shoulder when I sit cross-legged on the ground. “Woah! Hey, careful there! You don’t want me to accidentally drop you, do you? Or do this?” I stand up, Keeping her balanced on my shoulder with one hand. Even if I wasn’t enhanced, I probably wouldn’t have a problem picking her up. She’s light.

I wrap her legs around my neck, so her legs are on my left shoulder, with her shoulders on my right, and her torso curled around my head, then start to spin in circles, slowly at first, picking up a little more speed when she wraps her arms around mine, shrieking with joy. It’s loud right next to my ear, especially with my enhanced hearing, but it’s worth it to hear her laughing.

I only spin a few more times before I put her down, laughing but watching carefully as she staggers a bit, before falling to her hands and knees. She’s still giggling when she looks up, her bright eyes meeting my own.

“Hey, why are you sitting on the ground? We gotta build the castle! Come on!” I bounce away from her before laying on the ground where she had been sitting, then start picking up and examining some of the pieces. “I’m gonna finish this without you if you don’t hurry up!”

“Petey! This is your fault! I’m toooo dizzyyyyy!” She giggles again. “You made me dizzy Petey! I can’t walk anymore. You’re gonna hafta carry me. Pick me up, pick me up!”

I roll back over to her. Instead of picking her up, though, I simply grab one of her ankles and slowly pull her towards me. ‘Come on Morgie, you don’t get to be lazy, we gotta build your castle. Are you going to help me, or do I need to do it all by myself?”

“Ugh, fiiiinne. Why do I gotta do everything? But can we get a juice pop after dinner then?”

I wink at her. “You’ll need to ask Aunt May, but she can’t say no to TWO pairs of puppy eyes, can she? I bet she’ll say yes.”

We finish the castle, and soon, Morgan has me using the princess figurine to play being stuck in the castle, while she uses her Iron Man and Spider-Man lego figures to rescue her, one in each of her tiny fists. On one hand, seeing her play with them makes me kinda sad, remembering what we lost all those months ago, but on the other, I’m excited and hoping that Mr. Stark, Michael, Captain America, and the Black Widow will be able to stay on our Earth. 

I get lost in thought quickly. There isn’t really much effort required to be a damsel in distress. A few ‘Help me!’s and ‘Save me!’s go a long way towards really selling my role. When I hear Morgan’s quiet “Help!” I jerk out of my thoughts quickly, directing my attention towards her.

Wait a second. “Hey! That tiny little bridge would NOT keep Spider-Man trapped! And HOLD ON, if Spider-Man can’t lift it, there is NO WAY that Iron Man could pick it up without my help!” I poke her side gently, not sure if I should actually be offended or not. She laughs again, and I can’t help but smile. The little brat. Oh well, at least I love her.

I can hear May coming up behind us. “Hey guys, I made mac n cheese, are you guys ready to eat?”

Me and Morgan make eye contact, an unspoken agreement between the two of us, before we stand and race to the kitchen, her on the floor, with me crawling on the ceiling above her, leaving May shaking our head at our antics.

Dinner goes smoothly, and as I anticipated, it doesn't take much to convince May that we should have the sweet treat after we finish.

When I offer to clean up dinner, Aunt May nods, then goes to bathe Morgan. It doesn’t take long, and soon enough, the kitchen is clean, Morgan is bathed, and I have showered. The three of us watch part of an episode of some kid’s show before Morgan falls asleep.

She isn’t normally a light sleeper, but for some reason, she keeps shifting in her sleep. Standing, I hug May, then carefully scoop Morgan up, holding her protectively. Immediately, she is calmer, snuggling into my chest. Aunt May walks ahead of me, opening my door and pulling down the blankets on my bed before hugging me softly and kissing my cheek. 

I blush, but don’t want to wake my psuedo sister, so I don’t say anything, opting to put lay her down on my bed, then turning to hug my aunt for real. We whisper a quiet good night to each other, and she leaves, closing the door softly behind her.

I look down at my bed. I had set her down close to the wall, and already she is rolling in her sleep, trying to find my warmth. I lay down next to her, easily seeing her, even in the dark room.

As soon as I pull the blankets up around us, she manages to tuck herself into my side, curling up under my arm. I allow her to get comfortable, waiting for her to settle before I, too, drift off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I bring Harley into the story? Also, please leave a review, I love reading them!
> 
> I'm considering going back to my other two Marvel fics, should I continue them? Let me know what y'all think please!

**Author's Note:**

> You really telling me that Peggy Carter looked THAT good when she was in her 50's, and was okay with Rogers messing up the timelines?? I say nay, but go off, I guess.  
> Like, yay, they're finally together, but also I say that's BS. There's no way that scrawny old man was able to stay out of all the fights, and there's no way he was able to keep his trap shut about Hydra infiltrating SHIELD. He really letting his girl work with Zola, after all he's been through?


End file.
